


Breaking News

by eclipsed_sky



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-07-22 01:20:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7412863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclipsed_sky/pseuds/eclipsed_sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's only half way through his first year in the NHL before his world starts to fall apart.</p><p>*Please be gentle, I have a lovely beta who did a quick edit for me on this chapter but it was very late for her and I'm a little under the weather. I hope you enjoy.*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When mistakes make headlines

Jack is woken up to the sound of his phone vibrating on his side table. He rolls over to grab the phone and answers quickly, “Bits?” his voice roughened with sleep. He sits up at the sound of sobbing on the other end of the phone. The muffled sounds and distant music on the other end doesn’t sound like Bitty. Jack blinks a few times peering at the screen and realises it’s an unknown number.

“Uh- Hello?” Jack says sitting up, trying to work out who would have his number and be calling at this time of night.

“Jack?” a small and definitely female voice stammers out, “Jack is that you?” Jack swings his legs out of bed, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand.

“Who is this?” he asks, trying to clear his mind of sleep. He’s wondering who he gave his number to when he hears, “Jack, it's Juliet,” her voice slurring out. The last person Jack wants to hear from is Juliet. He doesn’t even know how she got his number.

“Look Juliet, I'm kinda tired...” he starts to say before he’s cut off by another loud sob and a banging noise from the other end of the line,

“Jack, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to call you, but I need help. I...I can't stand... I don't know what's wrong... I barely had a drink but Jack...” her voice trails off but Jack is already standing up, pulling on a pair of jeans from the floor. 

“Juliet? Where are you?” Jack exclaims. While he doesn’t want to really talk to Juliet, he doesn’t want something bad to happen to her either. Pulling a shirt over his head before putting the phone back to his ear he hears another soft sob.

“Juliet! Stay with me, where are you?” He didn't even know she was in Providence but he could only assume that's where she is if she’s calling him.  
“Col...Colosseum?” she forces out.  
Jack grabs his keys as he flies out of his apartment and runs to his car.  
“Please Jack, I'm scared...” her voice slurring more and more, getting softer.

“Juliet I'm coming, text me exactly where you are. I won't let anyone hurt you sis, I'll be there soon.” he says before hanging up and jumping into his car.

As Jack pulls up near the club he takes a breath, looking at his messages. He has 1 short message from Juliet, 'Disabled bathroom Main floor.’

He races out of the car and to the front door only stopping as the bouncer puts up a hand and says,“Sorry dude, we're full,” waving him away from the club. Jack frowns. He knows he could throw his name out but then the media would be all over him.

“Look I really...” was all he managed to get out before the bouncer laughs and turns to him saying, “Sorry dude I can't let you in.” Jack just gives him the glare he uses on the ice and sharply asks,

“You wanna tell the manager you wouldn't let in Jack Zimmerman?” He hates using his name, but if something happened to Juliet while he was out here with this joker he would never forgive himself. The bouncer frowns at him, actually looking at him before his eyes open wide and says, “Oh Mr Zimmerman come on in.” He unclips the velvet rope and Jack dashes past, barely hearing the rest of what the man says.

Looking around the club as the oppressive music blasts against his skin, his eyes dart around looking for the bathrooms. He finally notices a small bathroom sign. He quickly makes his way around the room, trying to be as stealthy as possible so as not to be noticed, he reaches the door to the bathroom and sees a guy banging on the door.

“Juliet! Come on bitch! Let me in!” the man says. He’s taller and is wearing a loose sports jacket. Jack comes close beside him, growling into his ear, “You best get away from here, and from her.” The man looks up, startled and steps back slightly when he sees how close Jack is to him.

“Look man, that bitch is my girl. What's your problem?” he says looking like he wants to get up in Jack's face, but eventually realizes his mistake when he sees difference in muscle mass, and leaves quickly. Jack just shakes his head and moves close to the door giving it a soft knock.

“Juliet, it's me.” 

The door unlocks and Jack opens it slightly, peering into the bathroom and finds Juliet crouching on the floor looking up at him bleary-eyed.

“Jack?” she slurs as she tries to sit up. Jack opens the door enough to get them into the room with her kneeling on one knee as he puts his hands under her arms to help her sit up.  
“Let's get you home” he mutters softly as he wraps an arm around her to hold most of her weight.

As they exit the club he can hear the reporters yelling his name and can see the the cameras flashing. He just frowns and keeps going, trying to keep Juliet's face hidden. He carefully puts her into the back seat buckling her in before jumping into his front seat and quickly driving away.

After turning off the lights and closing the door gently, he goes into his room and quickly calls Bitty. He knows Bits won’t be awake, but Jack wants to make sure that he knows the truth of what happened tonight, no matter what the news stations say tomorrow. 

“Hello! You’ve reached Eric Bittle. I’m sorry about not getting to you right now. Just leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks!” Jack smiles and says, “Hey Bits. Look, some stuff happened tonight, and I was just helping a friend in need, but I wanted you to know that whatever the news says, I love you. Okay, Good Night.” He hangs up with a soft sigh and puts his phone back onto his side table.


	2. Phone Calls and Sighs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's only half way through his first year in the NHL before his world starts to fall apart.

Bitty wakes up to a banging at his door. Groaning, he rolls over to lift his phone to look at the time. He frowns at the notifications on his phone and most importantly a missed call from Jack. He’s about to listen the the voice mail that Jack left him when the banging starts again.

“Bitty get up! You need to see this!” Holster yells through the door. Obviously something happened last night but he really wants to talk to Jack first.

“I'll be right down!” he yells back as he rubs his eyes clear of sleep. He opens his phone and calls his voice-mail box to listen to Jack's saying, “Hey Bits. Look, some stuff happened tonight, and I was just helping a friend in need, but I wanted you to know that whatever the news says, I love you. Okay, Good Night.” His voice soft and sounding tired. Bitty chews his lip as he sets the phone down and thinks. What on earth had happened overnight that could have upset Jack so much that he would be so worried about Bit's reaction?

Rolling out of bed and throwing on a large hoodie (that he’s pretty sure belongs to Jack cause it sure isn’t his) he pads his way down the stairs. 

“I can't believe Jack didn't tell us!” Dex exclaims as Bitty makes his way to the living room. The whole team is sitting on and around the couches watching an E news clip, which seems to be showing Jack coming out of a club in downtown Providence with a barely conscious girl draped over his arm. Bitty's heart clenches as he watches the clip of Jack carefully putting the girl in the back of his car and driving away. Bitty can hear the team going on about what looks like Jack's new girlfriend and Bitty clasps his hands tightly. He knows that Jack had called last night and said he was just helping a friend, but honestly it hurts to hear the Haus talking about Jack's apparent 'girlfriend.’ He hopes that they can tell at least some of the team some time soon.

As he turns to go back upstairs his phone starts to vibrate. When he pulls it from his pocket a picture of Jack pops up on his screen, the one they took last July below the fireworks.

“Hey.” he says softly as he turns away from the Haus’ living room to move back up the stairs. This isn’t a conversation he wants to have in front of everyone. He quietly makes his way back to his room, smiling as he closes the door, hearing the sound of Jack's voice coming through the phone.

“Hey Bits” he says tiredly.

Bitty sits on the side of his bed, taking a deep breath before saying, “Hi sweetheart, what's going on?” He chews on his lower lip. He knows Jack said that this girl was just a friend, and Bitty believes him, but once a news report comes out like this it's hard to put it away without bringing something else out. Jack sighs into the phone,  
“Her name is Juliet, she's... she's...” he trails off and he hears a soft female voice in the background telling him, “Jack, if you're holding back because of me, please don't. If you trust him then you can tell him...” There’s silence on the phone. Bitty wants to ask more about who was in the room but he doesn’t want to push Jack.  
“She's my sister Bits.” 

Those four short words burst through the silence, and Bitty feels his eyes go wide, his mind racing a mile a minute. Bitty knew that Jack was an only child, when he first moved into the Haus.He did a little light googling about everyone to get a little back story, so Jack suddenly telling him he has a sister is weird to say the least.Especially since they’ve been dating for half a year.

 

“Bits?” Jack says worriedly.

 

“Oh Jack...” he replies with a sigh, trying to work out what to say,

 

“Jack? Can I talk to him?” Bitty hears Juliet asks softly, her voice is rough. It makes Bitty's heart ache,

 

“Bitty, is that ok?” Jack asks, and Bitty starts to nod before remembering that Jack can’t see him.

 

“Of course sweetheart.” he says as he moves back onto his bed, grabbing Señor Bunny and hugging him tightly.

 

“Hello?” Juliet whispers softly into the phone. She sounds like she’s been crying and Bitty feels for her.

 

“Hi, Juliet is it? I'm Eric.” he introduces himself, the Southerner in him saying he needs be polite to this poor girl. Between Juliet and Jack both sounding so raw and tired, Bitty wishes he could be there, cooking for them, doing something.

 

“I'm sorry that I've caused so much trouble Eric. There's a lot that I need to explain.” 

Bitty's face breaks from worry into a sad smile; Juliet was sorry for something that wasn’t her fault. She couldn't control the media, and if he hadn't heard about her before, (if she truly was Jack's sister), then she didn't seem the type that would go after the media. She also didn't seem very much like Jack. If anything she seemed more like himself babbling on when she was nervous. “I came to Providence for work, and last night was to celebrate the end of the job, I had one drink and then I met some guys and I don't know what happened and my head went all funny and I could barely walk. And I'm just so so sorry,” she tearfully as she started to cry again. Bitty could hear the phone being passing between hands and Jack's voice came back through the phone,

 

“Bitty you still there?” he asks worriedly. Bitty can hear how anxious Jack is.

 

“Yeah Jack I'm still here, but obviously there's a lot to work out. Like how I didn't know about your sister?” Bitty asks. Jack's anxiety seems to get worse when he talks about his family, his dad inparticular. Bitty can almost see in his mind's eye Jack running his hand through his hair as he tries to gather his thoughts.

“Yeah she’s my half sister. My Dad - he was young… They both were.” Jack sighs, “We didn't even know about her till I was 20 and neither did she. I just don’t know what to do.” 

And that’s the problem. They can’t just deny that she’s Jack's girlfriend because that would lead to why Jack was picking her up, who she was, and why they were their together last night. Jack might have to come out. Bitty knows it’s for the best if they keep up with Juliet being Jack’s girlfriend, but it hurts Bitty to even think that Jack might have to keep up with the lie, just as much as it hurts Bitty to think that Jack might have to keep up with their lie too.

 

“Have you talked with your Dad?” Bitty suggests quietly, as he rubs the soft fur on Señor Bunny belly. 

 

“I haven't talked to him yet, but if I don't call him soon I'm sure he'll call me. Bits.... Can I ask a favour?” Jack utters out, like he's afraid to even ask Bitty.

“I’ll do anything Honey. You know that.” he replies softly.

“Can you come to Providence? As soon as you’re able?” he says in almost a whisper. Bitty sighs. He wants to go, more than anything but he has a game tomorrow night and he's sure people will want to know where he's going if he's going to miss a game.

“I have a game tomorrow night, and without explaining what's going on I don't know if they'll understand why I have to come down.” Bitty says sadly, he does want to be there for Jack but he can't miss the game.

“But I can leave straight after? Although I don't know what the train would be like… maybe Saturday morning?” Bitty was starting to hate his dependence on trains to see Jack, but he had no real other options without asking one of the guys to borrow their car for the weekend. 

“Bits it's OK, I understand that you can't just pull out of the game. And the guys will want to celebrate Friday night, so Saturday morning then? I'll pick you up from the station.” Jack replies, sighing softly before continuing,

“I love you Bits.” 

“I love you too Jack. I'll see you Saturday.” he responds with a soft smile, hanging up the phone before laying down on his bed and curls up with Señor Bunny, contemplating about everything that just happened.


	3. Histories and Stories.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's only half way through his first year in the NHL before his world starts to fall apart. But with Bitty's help he can pull it back together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a little later, working extra hours this week. Enjoy.

Jack sat on the couch next to where Juliet was curled up with her phone with a sigh, after a long talk with George and a talk with Juliet and his Dad he was no closer to working out what he should be doing. He could see Juliet close her phone screen and put it down beside her on the couch,

“So, I should probably tell you why I was so scared last night.” she says softly as she leans back into the couch stretching her legs out in front of her, taking a few slow breaths. Jack shook his head as he put his phone on the table in front of him. When they were on the phone to his Dad, no their Dad, Juliet mentioned someone called Jefferson. Obviously they had some history together but his Dad assured them that he wouldn't come looking for her, not while she was in the spotlight.

“You don't have to talk about it if you don't feel up to it?” Jack replies, whatever had happened in Juliet's past scared her enough that she didn't want to be alone, or at least she didn't want to see him again. Jack had already agreed that she could stay with him for as long as she was in Providence and they were going to go pick up her things from the hotel she had been staying at to bring them back here. She was already having to borrow Jack's clothes which she was basically swimming in. She was pulling at a small thread when she replied,

“No, I want to... and you deserve to know. I mean you came and helped me last night, and you didn't have to. You don't really know me, you could have just...” her voice trailed off, as she got lost in her own thoughts.

“Hey, no I couldn't have left you alone last night. We may not be close, but I wouldn't just leave you in trouble. And you can talk about it when you're ready,” Jack says strongly, his hand gently grasping her shoulder. Juliet's eyes focus as she turns to look at Jack, a small smile gracing her face.

“You're a great man Jack, you're partner is lucky to have you. And I'm ready, I mean I want to be ready. I think it will be good for me...” she pauses, collecting her thoughts before continuing. “So I work as a dancer, I've worked on a few music videos and a few stage shows in Vegas. We're all friendly, the dancers. We all know each other at least by face if nothing else, but we're all always trying to get the same jobs, so as much as we want to be friends with one another show a moment of weakness and the claws will come out. But about 3 months ago we were working on a new music video, and the choreographer – that's Jefferson, he liked me, I mean liked me like he wanted me in his bed. But I thought he liked me; as in thought I was a great dancer... He was going to be great for my dancing career, if a choreographer likes you and your work you'll keep working, he kept making sure I was pushed to the front of the dance numbers, always being closest to the star. But two days before we finished filming he invited me to his hotel, and I wanted to keep it professional and I was already getting enough shit from the other girls, but if I went to his hotel before the shoot closed I'd never hear the end of it. I wanted this job but I wanted it cause I'm a good dancer.” she paused, like if she didn't get it all out she didn't think she'd be able to start again.

 

“But saying no to him, he turned up at my hotel that night banging on the door of my room. Calling me 'his girl' and a bitch in one breath, saying that I was a terrible dancer and that I owed him for my job and that he would make sure it all ended on the floor if I didn't open the door for him. But what I don't think he realised at the time is that all the dancers stay together. At least five of the dancers from the shoot heard him go off at me, I called security at the hotel and he got kicked out and banned from that hotel. I thought that would be the last of it. I thought he had to have been drunk and that he wouldn't say anything on set the next day. We had two days left, I was sure I could handle two days of acting professional to this asshole. But next day on set he called me over to our rehearsal and warm up space, I thought maybe he was going to apologise to me about the previous night but he didn't. He grabbed my ass and told me that he owned me and that he was going to fuck me into the ground....” Juliet's voice shuddered to a halt, her teeth gnawing at her bottom lip as she tried to hold back tears. Jack opens his mouth to comfort her, to let her know it's not her fault that this asshole decided that he had to be like this, but Juliet just shakes her head.

“I was so shocked, I pushed him away and told him to never touch me again. I could see the girls staring at us, and I was sure that they would think I wanted this. But as I turned to walk away from him, Alyssa held her arm out to me and she hugged me. And from that moment I knew they would have my back. It ended with them telling me I needed to get a restraining order for Jefferson, and tell other dancers that he couldn't be trusted. But I couldn't do that. I knew that if I started telling dancers what happened he would deny it, and dancers want to work. No matter how shitty the person is.” Juliet tips her head back on the top of the couch, Jack know how cathartic it can feel to just let it all spill out.

“So you said that you think you saw Jefferson last night?” Jack asks and Juliet just nods, “The other girls met up with a bunch of cute guys, we were all dancing together. I thought I saw him over near the bar, but by the time I got over there I couldn't find him so I thought I imagined it. But I went over to our table and finished my drink... which we all stupidly left alone while we danced. I went to dance with everyone again but I couldn't find them on the dance floor. And then I felt really sick and woozy, and well you know the rest.” she finished as she pushed herself up from the couch and stretching her arms above her head.

“Also Jack, la prochaine fois que vous ne voulez pas me entendre ce que vous dites à vos parents , vous devriez quitter la salle.” she says with a small laugh as she walks across the room and looks out the window. Jack’s eyes open wide and gives a small laugh.

“Sorry Juliet, it's not that I was trying to talk about you behind your back, I just wanted to make sure I didn't need to be watching out for someone trying to stalk you.” he says rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

“It's ok Jack. I don't think he'd do anything that could possibly get him in trouble with the media. His job relies on people thinking he's not a disgusting asshole, and one dancer making a complaint won't really affect things, but if he's caught on camera that's a whole other story,” she replies with a sigh. And as sad as it is, Jack knows she's right. One guy in power is going to be believed over a girl time after time, as much as it disgusts him. 

Jack watches as Juliet looks out the window, her forehead pressed to the glass as looks down his building,  
“Hey Jack? I just wanna thank you.” she says softly, her breath fogging the glass slightly. “The last few months have been... well not the greatest. And you've just been so amazing to me.” she turns from the window leaning against the cool glass.  
“I'm a dancer, my work isn't always constant so myself and other dancers work with a lot of shit to keep in work. I'm not used to having support, I mean my Mom has always been there for me but she lives in Canada and most of my work is here in the US, mostly in Vegas. But you came and you helped me, even when you didn't have to.” a smile starting to cross her lips, “I never expected to have a family here.” she finished a blush starting to creep up her face. Jack smiles in return,  
“Family is important, even if it's a little untraditional this go round.” he says as he stands from the couch, “Come on, let's get to your hotel and get your stuff sorted.” and she smiles and nods in reply.

 

Note: I speak BASIC french, and I know that French and Quebecois are different but I did my best  
English to French  
Also Jack, next time you don't want me to hear what you're saying to your parents, you should leave the room. - Also Jack, la prochaine fois que tu veux pas que j'entends ce que tu dit à tes parents, tu devrais quitter la salle.


	4. Haus Parties and Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lardo knows all the things...

Bitty looked around his room, trying to work out what he'll need to take with him to Jack's apartment for the weekend. With the celebration party going on down stairs, Bitty had stayed for a while, but after a couple of hours he decided that he had to go upstairs. He was too restless to stay with the team talking about the amazing win they had that night against Yale; If he had a way he would already be on his way to Jack. They had spoken last night on Skype and Jack just looked so tired. He said that Juliet was staying with him at least until after the weekend, as he pulled out his overnight bag from under his bed there was a soft knock at his door.

“Bathroom is the other way down the hall” Bitty calls out before opening his drawer and pulling out a couple of t-shirts and tossing them in his bag. He’s closing the drawer as a very familiar voice comes through his door.

“Bitty open up.” he should have known that Lardo would notice him being gone, especially since she didn't have Shitty who would usually keep her attention. Even if Shitty had been at the kegster he knew Lardo would have noticed his absence. He opens it and Lardo steps into his room, wrapping him in a hug.

“You guys are going to be ok, you know that, right Bits?” she says gruffly into his shoulder. Bitty just wraps his arms around her. He shouldn't be surprised that Lardo knows about him and Jack. It's not exactly like they've been stealthy about him going to Providence as often as he can, and Jack has been out to Samwell far too often for someone who has graduated, especially one that’s a professional NHL player. Plus Lardo is one of the most observant people Bitty knows. It feels good that someone knows, and has his back.

“Thanks Lards, it's just hard being so far away from him,” he says softly as he closes the door behind her. She slaps his chest softly and says,

“Keeping me in the dark like that? Come on guys,” she jokes trying to lighten the mood. Bitty grins. Leave it to Lardo to make jokes.

“Sorry Lardo, we haven't told anyone. Jack wants to get through his first year to be about his hockey skills. He doesn't want it to be about his personal life. He’s had enough of that when he was in Q you know?” he says as he turn back to his bag pulling out some pants from his drawer and shoving them in his bag.

“I get it Bitty, honestly I do, but you guys didn't trust us with your secret?” she asks as she sits on his bed between Señor Bunny and his bag.

“It's easier to hide this from everyone. I mean if we feel comfortable here at the house to be together, what if someone stops by? Or what if we cuddle up on the couch and one of the guys takes a pic, not really thinking much of it and posting it on Facebook. He’ll be out and then it could be bad.” he replies quietly. Lying, even it was by omission has been hard, but he knows that the guys from the house could have been (and have been in other cases) much more invasive, although other than Lardo, he's not sure that anyone else would even think of Jack being interested in him.

“I'm sorry though, we didn't want to hide it from you guys. It would have made my trips to Providence a lot easier if I had a ride to the station rather than having to get an uber,” he says with a small grin.

“Yea, yea well let's not let it happen again you got it?” Lardo replies with a grin. “When are you leaving?” she asks. Peering into his bag that’s already half packed, Bitty blushes and says,

“In the morning. I wasn't sure how the trains would be after the party, I mean it’s already 11 o’clock...” he replies. he didn't mean to run off from the celebrations. Tonight's pre-game had been really hard on all of them. Yale was one of their harder competition, and winning against them felt really good.  
“Hey, don't beat yourself up Bitty. You have a lot going on, and only Jack to talk to,” she states, nudging him with her foot before pushing his bag aside and patting the bed beside her, motioning to get him to sit. Bitty smiles and sits down beside her as her arm wraps around his shoulders and he rests his head against her.

“I don't know what I'd do without you Lardo.” he says with a sigh, smiling softly. He feels lighter even though it's just that he has just told Lardo, part of him wants to run though the Haus telling everyone that Jack is his,

“Well luckily you never have to find out Bits.” she replies breaking him from his thoughts, giving his shoulders a squeeze.

“I don’t know what to do,” Bitty says softly, as he curls into Lardo's shoulder. Even though Lardo is the only person in the house smaller than himself, she always makes him feel comforted.

“Well what do you want to do?” she asks as her hand rubs soft circles on his arm, and Bitty just sighs. What does he want? He wants to be with Jack. He wants to tell the team he has a boyfriend that cares for him.He wants Ransom and Holster to stop setting him up with unwanted dates. But since he can't have that right now he’ll settle for at least just being with Jack. With all the roadies Jack has been taking and the games that Bitty has been playing, their schedules have really been clashing. This weekend wasn't even supposed to be their weekend together. Bitty has some assignments to finish for the coming week and Jack had some free skate practice that he wanted to go to, but that seems to have been put on the back burner since everything that’s gone down with Juliet.

“I wanna go to Providence.” he says clearly, “But I know I can’t go now. I’ll wait until the morning and catch the train first thing,” he says with a sigh, leaning into Lardo’s shoulder. 

“I’m sure Chowder would let you borrow his car for the weekend. He and Farmer have study group plans this weekend so I’m sure he won’t mind?” Lardo says, giving his shoulder a squeeze. Bitty looks up from Lardo’s shoulder, a quizzical look on his face.

“You really think that Chowder would let me borrow his car? I mean I’ve only had one beer tonight. And that was hours ago. I would be fine to drive. Do you really think he would?” he says his eyes lighting up at the thought of seeing Jack tonight.

“Well, you dummy, let’s go ask him!” she replies with a twinkle in her eye, jumping off his bed and grabbing at his hand, pulling him towards the door. Bitty lets himself get pulled down stairs by Lardo as they go in search of Chowder.

 

They find Chowder almost wasted with a lap full of Farmer and a beer in hand when Lardo asks,

“Hey Chowder, can Bits borrow your car for the weekend? I’m sure there will be pie in it for you,” Lardo says cheerfully, motioning towards Bitty behind her and holding out her hand for the keys.

“Hey Lards! And yea Bits! Yea, you can borrow the car!” he shouts over the music, reaching into his pocket and throwing the keys towards Bitty and Lardo. Bitty catches them from the air before bounding forward and hugging Chowder and Farmer.

“Thanks Chowder! You’re a lifesaver!” Bitty exclaims looking at the keys in his hand with joy. Lardo just pushes him gently towards the stairs,

“Go get him.” she says with a smirk. Bitty just nods before turning and running up the stairs to grab his bag and his keys. He was sure Jack would be asleep but lucky for him Jack had given him a key to the apartment back in the summer. This would be the first time he’s been able to legitimately use it.


	5. Late night heart to hearts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Half way through Jack's first year in the NHL things start to fall apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this is late guys. Bad author *slaps hand*

Juliet stood in the middle of Jack’s living room, all the furniture pushed back against the walls to make an empty space. Jack had gone to bed a couple of hours ago but Juliet couldn’t sleep. There has been so much going on and she has always been a bit of a night owl, so popping her wireless earphones in, she pushes play on her phone and starts to run through some old choreography to try to clear her mind.

Bitty smiles as he finally reaches Jack’s door. He reaches into his pocket for his keys and flicks through them until he gets to Jack’s, sliding it into the keyhole and turning the handle to push open the door quietly. As he closes the door behind him, toeing off his shoes he silently makes his way into the apartment, he stops in surprise when he finds a girl dancing gracefully in Jack’s cleared out living room. He doesn’t want to startle her, (who he can only assume is Juliet), but she seems to have not heard him come in and he notices the small earphones sitting in her ears. He slowly approaches her, hoping that she doesn’t scream or get too alarmed when he can finally get her attention.

Bitty watches in a little bit of awe as she comes to an obvious end, she has amazing grace that Bitty hasn’t seen since he did ice skating. She pulls out one of her earphone as she walks over to her phone, probably to find another song. 

“Hi there; Juliet isn’t it?” Bitty asks softly, smiling carefully as she gasps and whirls around to face him.

“Oh my goodness, who are you!?” she says all in a rush pushing herself back against the wall trying to put as much space as possible. Bitty puts up his hands and takes a step back trying to put as much room as possible between himself and Juliet.

“I’m Eric? Or uh- Bitty? Sorry to scare you, I didn’t think anyone would be awake and I wanted to surprise Jack,” he says quickly, and he sees her relax a little.

“Oh! Hi. Sorry, it’s been a tense couple of days,” she states as she steps away from the wall. “Dance helps me clear my head,” she finishes with a soft voice. 

Bitty nods,“I know what you mean, figure skating does the same for me. You just let your body go through the motions and you can just zone out,” he says as Juliet nods with a smile breaking out across her face. 

She motions to Bitty to join her as she sits down in the middle of the floor putting her legs out to the sides pushing her body forward stretching.

“This is what really gets me relaxed, going through some stretches and just letting my body release all the tension,” she says as she presses her body flat to the floor a soft sigh escaping her mouth. Bitty grins; she’s not wrong. A good stretch can really help release some tension, so he puts down his back, takes his shoes off near the door and sits on the ground across from her. He stretches his legs out beside him and leans forward. He can’t get his chest to the floor (well not anymore) but he can lean on his elbows. Stretching forward to straighten out his spine feeling a good stretch from his hips and up his back. 

“Wow, I didn’t realise how tight I was getting in my hips.” Bitty muttered softly, (mostly to himself) and Juliet lifts her head from the floor with a smile.

“Hockey doesn’t seem like the kind of sport that helps to keep flexible,” she replies with a small smile, as she sits up turning her hips to move into front splits, barely lifting her hips from the floor.

“That, and as you get older if you’re not stretching out every day your flexibility goes pretty quickly,” she finishes as she slowly pushes her head back towards her back leg. Bitty nods, as he watches her stretch, moving himself to put his feet together in front of himself pressing his knees to the floor.

“Yeah, I mean I feel like ice skating is a little like that. I mean basic stuff will always be there but some of my triple jumps are so much harder to get back. Well, that and I don’t put as much time in my figure skates. Hockey skates don’t really work for figure skating,” he replies with a short huff. Juliet sits up looking at Bitty.

“I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t dance anymore. I mean, I don’t even need music anymore. I can almost hear it in my head now. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to not be able to do it any time I wanted to. I mean you have to have the ice, and the right skates and there are just so many variables,” she says softly crossing her legs in front of her, stretching her arms above her head and stretching over to one side. 

“I love hockey, so that helps. And I love what it’s given me. The team and my scholarship at Samwell. I wouldn’t have those things if I didn’t have Hockey. And, well, without hockey I would have never met Jack,” he says with blush fanning across his cheeks and he relaxes his legs, crossing them in front of him. 

“I haven’t known Jack very long, but from what I can understand from Bob, all the guys from Samwell have been good for him,” Juliet replies softly, before straightening herself and leaning over to the other side. “You’ve been good for him,” she finishes. “When I first found out who my… who my father was, I googled him, and his family. I wanted to know…you know... about what…” Juliet’s voice trailed off as she sat back up straight and waves her hand, Bitty gets it. 

“Does Jack know you’ve googled him?” Bitty asks softly. He knows how much Jack hates what’s out there about him and his past, and Juliet shrugs.

“I think so. I mean I haven’t really said much about it. Although this is the first time we’ve spent a lot of time together. I think when he first found out about me he assumed I was going to try and break his family apart. Or at least try and become part of his family,” she pauses, looking out over Bitty’s shoulder before refocusing on his eyes. “But it was never about that, I mean. I’ve only ever had my Mom. And I never really felt like I was missing anything, but I was curious, I mean I was 20 and sick and then I suddenly have a father… Of course I’m going to google him and by extension his family,” Bitty frowns. She was sick? Is that why her mom went and told Bob about her? Juliet’s face falls slightly.

“Oh no, it’s not…we never went after him for money…” her face wrinkles slightly,  
“My Mom would be too proud to do that… but I needed blood transfusions, I don’t have a common blood type and the doctor recommended a family member would make it easier. My Mom and her parents aren’t a match for me, but Bob was. Actually if I hadn’t have gotten sick I don’t know if I would have ever met him,” Juliet rambles on, talking with her hands, gesturing a little wildly as she gets more nervous. 

“Juliet, it’s ok. No matter the reason, I could never fault you for wanting to know your father, and your family,” he says softly as he releases her hand. He hadn’t meant to have such a heart to heart with Juliet on arrival to Jack’s apartment. Juliet chews on her lip, reddening it with worry,

“I- Thank you Bitty. Getting to know Jack, well it could have happened in a better way but I’m glad that I have the chance to get to know him,” she smiles softly. Bitty grins in response. Jack is pretty awesome when you get to know him, and if Juliet has managed to get past is harder exterior then all the more power to her. Putting her hand over her mouth as she yawns she reaches for her phone. 

“Oh goodness, it’s already 2am, I should really get to bed.” she says with a laugh, and Bitty’s eyes widen. 

“Oh yeah me too. I’ll never get up in time to make breakfast if I don’t go now,” he replies with a laugh. Stretching his legs out for a moment before pushing himself up and holding out a hand to help Juliet up. Juliet smiles taking his hand and standing herself up. 

“Thanks Bitty. You’re really amazing,” she says with a smile, giving him a quick hug. Bitty smiles and gives Juliet a squeeze in reply.

“Whatever happens, I’m glad to meet you Juliet,” he replies before pulling back and turning towards the hall to the bedrooms before looking over his shoulder.

“Good night Juliet,” he says with a small smile.

“Night night Bitty,” she replies as she picks up her phone to following him down the hall.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the first time I've written anything like this for a while so I'm a little rusty. Enjoy

Bitty quietly opens and closes the door to Jack’s bedroom, smiling as he watches Jack turn over in his sleep. Bitty moves through the darkened room with ease, getting on his pajamas and going to the bedside table and plugging in his phone before sliding into the bed. Jack rolls over pulling Bitty closer which causes Bitty to laugh quietly.

“Mmm Bits,” Jack mumbles as he hugs Bitty too his side before his eyes flutter open and widen with surprise. 

“Bitty!” Jack whispers excitedly, his voice rough with sleep. Bitty just smiles and snuggles into Jack’s chest.

“Hey. I borrowed Chowder’s car,” he says sleepily as he wraps an arm around Jack. Jack grins as he presses a kiss into Bitty’s hair.

“Mmm, ok. Sleep now, talk tomorrow,” he mumbles as he falls back into sleep. Bitty grins as he snuggles into Jack’s chest, taking a deep breathe and finally relaxing.

\---------

As Jack wakes up slowly and feels a warmth against his side, turning his head he grins as he sees Bitty curled up on the other side of his bed.

“So you weren’t a dream,” he murmurs as he smiles watching Bitty has he snuffles in his sleep. Jack thought about getting up to go for a run, but waking up with a surprise Bitty in his arms he was reluctant to move if only to not wake Bitty up. Jack lazily watches Bitty murmurs in his sleep, he legs intertwined around Jack’s. There’s a warmth in Jack’s chest, Bitty came in the middle night and Jack loves him so much. 

Pressing a soft kiss into Bitty’s shoulder Jack means to slide his arm from beneath Bitty, but the soft sigh that escapes Bitty’s lips gives him pause. Pressing another kiss into Bitty’s shoulder, he shuffles slightly pressing open mouthed kisses across Bitty’s collarbone before pressing a wet kiss into Bitty’s throat, teeth softly grazing against his skin. Bitty moans softly, his hips pressing upwards looking for pressure and meeting nothing but air. 

Jack runs a hand down Bitty’s side, his hand wrapping around his boyfriend’s hip, his fingers pressing firmly into his skin. His thigh pushing up between Bitty’s legs, pressing up against him giving Bitty the pressure his sleep filled mind is looking for. 

“Bits…” Jack says softly into the soft skin of Bitty’s neck where he has been pressing wet kisses and sucking at the skin.

“Hey Jack…” Bitty says softly his voice rough and raspy, leaning his head exposing more of his neck to Jack’s mouth a moan escaping his lips as Jack takes joy in kissing and biting at the exposed skin. Bitty’s hand lifts to grab at Jack, pressing against his chest as he runs it down to grasp at Jack’s hip. 

They stay like that for a little while, Bitty’s hips lifting to grind against Jack every time Jack’s teeth graze across his skin. Bitty’s fingers pressing into the skin of Jack’s hip, nails scratching into his skin. Neither wanting to pull away to further their activities, both moaning as they grind against one another. 

“Jaaack, so good” Bitty breaths out with a slight whine to his voice, he could feel himself getting worked up as Jack moves his hand down Bitty’s body, fingers teasing at the waistband of his pajama pants,

“Yes Bits?” he pants out, fingers brushing against the skin of Bitty’s abdomen, “Please.” Bitty whispers his free hands running through Jack’s hair as he tries to push himself into Jack’s hand. Jack nips gently at Bitty’s throat as he moves his hand past Bitty’s waistband to grasp Bitty’s cock. The moan that escapes Bitty’s mouth at the feeling of Jack’s teeth at his throat and hand around him is almost pornographic. Bitty’s hand moves from Jack’s hip moving past his waistband to grab his ass firmly, kneading it beneath his fingers. 

BItty’s body shudders as he moans into Jack’s shoulder as the pressure from Jack’s hand on him, Bitty’s nails scratch across the skin of Jack’s ass as he thrusts up into his hand, Jack moans and shudders in reply,

“Jack...so close….” Bitty gasps as Jack presses kisses into his throat his hand moving faster against Bitty’s skin. 

“Bits please….” Jack whispers into his skin, and Bitty moves his hand to wrap around Jack in return. Bitty tries to keep his hand moving in time with Jack’s but he’s writhing with pleasure and it’s hard for him to keep his concentration. 

It doesn’t take long between the feeling of Jack’s calloused hand against his cock and his mouth on his neck before Bitty is moaning as he thrusts into his hand,

“Jack, I’m goin…” was all he managed to breathe out before he orgasamed into Jack’s hand, Bitty squeezing his hand around Jack in reply before he gasps his skin,

“Bitssss” Jack groans out as he matches Bitty with his release, his face still nuzzled into Bitty’s throat. 

They lay still on the bed, both panting quietly before Bitty gives a small laugh,

“Well that’s one way to wake a guy up.” he says with a small smile, nudging Jack’s cheek with his nose. Jack pulled back from Bitty’s neck to look at the blonde with a smile, his eyes looking at the marks he left on his throat.

“Good morning love.” Jack says softly, “I think we need to shower.” he finishes with a smile, his eyes drifting down to between them where both their stomachs were splashed with cum. Bitty grins, 

“Would you like to go first Mr Zimmerman? Or would you like to join me?” Bitty asks his eyes twinkling with glee, because in this moment it was just the pair of them in a messy bed, completely in love.

“Come on Bits, you better come and make sure I get properly clean.” Jack replies with a small smile as he hops out of bed holding his hand out for his boyfriend. Bitty grins in reply and crawls over to Jack’s side of the bed taking his hand and following him into the bathroom.


	7. Bitty Hulk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok guys, I'm sorry this is over a week late. This is the third re-write of this chapter and I'm still not super happy with it. It's completely unbetaed because I just wanted to get this out there so sorry sorry sorry. With extra work the last few weeks and I just couldn't get to where I wanted to get to with this chapter. I think it's because I'm distracted by another fic idea *slap the bad author* anyway please enjoy.

Bitty stood in Jack’s bedroom, towelling dry his hair listening to Jack brushing his teeth in the bathroom. This was Bitty’s favorite part of the day when he was here in Providence, just being with Jack in such a domestic way made Bitty feel like he is home. Opening his drawer pulling out a pair of shorts and pulling them on, closing the drawer before smiling as he pulls open the drawer with Jack’s shirts. 

“I don’t think your shirts are in there.” Jack says with a small laugh, he knows that Bitty loves to wear his clothes, just as much as Jack loves to chirp him about it. Bitty grins looking over his shoulder.

“You saying I can’t wear these?” he asks a blush lightly colouring his cheeks. Bitty knows that Jack is just chirping him but somewhere in the back of his mind there is always that little voice that says, ‘You don’t deserve him’. And it makes him question himself sometimes. Jack grins as he approaches Bitty his arms surrounding the smaller man.

“You know I love when you wear my clothes.” he whispers huskily into his ear, squeezing him gently and Bitty leans back into Jack’s bare chest. Bitty stood for a moment letting himself be surrounded in Jack before making a soft sigh.

“We should go make some breakfast.” Bitty says softly and Jack presses a kiss into his hair before grabbing a shirt from the open drawer and throwing it on. Bitty gave a small laugh as he grabbed his phone from the bedside table and headed to the door as Jack finished dressing. 

As Bitty opens the bedroom door he can hear some soft music coming from the guest bedroom, the door firmly closed and Bitty looks back with raised eyebrow. Jack shakes his head before moving close and whispering, 

“It’s normal. There always seems to be music coming from her room.” he says with a slight shrug, Bitty nods before making his way to the kitchen and starts rummaging around to make some pancakes. 

Jack sits at the breakfast bar across the bench watching as Bitty moves around the kitchen, (no their kitchen) Jack thinks with a smile. 

They sit in a comfortable silence while Bitty happily moves around the kitchen, dancing slightly to the music coming from the guest room. But as he pours his first pancake in the pan the music gets louder and they both turn to see the door open and Juliet step out of the room, playing with her phone the music stops as she looks up to see both boys looking at her. 

“Hi! Sorry did I wake you guys?” Juliet’s eyes wide with surprise. Jack smirks slightly as a blush colors Bitty’s cheeks.

“Oh no Juliet, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” Bitty replies, looking back at the pan to ensure his pancakes weren’t burning. He had completely forgotten about Juliet being across the hall in his lust filled mind when he moaned into Jack this morning. 

“Oh no you’re fine, I don’t sleep much. I’m used to early morning shoots and late night practice just running on very little sleep.” Juliet says with a light shrug. “Ooo pancakes!” she exclaims as she climbs onto the stool beside Jack. Bitty just smiles and nods as he puts a pancake on the plate in front of Jack and pours another with a small flourish. 

“How many would you like Juliet.” Bitty asks with a smile, his eyes flicking to Jack and Jack lifts up 3 fingers. Bitty flicks back to Juliet to see her smile and say,

“Umm 2 if that’s ok? 1 will be fine if there’s not enough batter. Or I can get my own breakfast, I don’t want to interrupt your routine.” Juliet replies with a smile putting her phone on the bench and sitting up swinging her legs back and forth. 

“There should be heaps of batter for you to have 2 at the very least. I’m used cooking for a house full of college hockey players, 2 hockey players and a dancer should be fine.” he says with a grin that causes Jack to laugh softly. 

The three of them sit in a companionable silence as Bitty quickly puts pancakes on the 3 plates, gentle chirps pass between Jack and Bitty which Juliet just keeps giggling at. As Bitty sits beside Jack to eat his pancakes the sound of Britney’s ‘Toxic’ comes tinkling out. Jack looks at Bitty with a raised eyebrow,

“Hey don’t look at me, not my phone.” he replies defensively and Jack turns to look over at Juliet who is smiling.

“Sorry guys. I’m waiting on a call back about a job in Vegas. Could mean that I could settle down for a little while which would be sweet.” she says before picking up her phone, “Hello this is Juliet.” she says as she hops off her stool, she takes all of about a step away before she freezes and drops her phone on the bench taking a few steps back.

Bitty hops off his stool moving around Jack to pick up the phone his face steely, he can only assume whoever is on the phone is the reason Juliet is hiding out at Jack’s place. Jack has hopped off his chair reaching for Juliet with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Bitty puts the phone to his ear, he can hear a male voice yelling all sorts of vile things into the phone.

“Hello?” Bitty says letting his southern accent loose, trying to tamp down the anger he is feeling from coming through in his voice. The angry voice stops abruptly. ‘Who is this’ the angry voice says into the phone.

“Well you called here, who is this?” Bitty replies, breathing carefully through his nose trying not to yell at the awful sounding man. ‘What are you doing with Juliet’s phone? Where is that whore!’ he shouts into the phone, and Bitty stifles a strained laugh.

“I don’t know why you seem to think that. So I’ll ask again. Who are you? And what do you want?” Bitty didn’t know what else to do. He just wanted to talk this guy down and get him to stop calling Juliet. ‘Jefferson. Who are you? I know you’re not that hockey guy that took her home. That little slut will let anyone take her home.’ he grunts. Bitty could feel his anger start to rise, who was this loser. The only reason that she even had to go home with anyone was because of what he did. Bitty took a deep breath, exhaling carefully.

“Listen Jefferson, I am going to talk and you’re going to listen very carefully to me.” ‘But..’ he tries to interrupt.

“Don’t interrupt. You’re going to never call Juliet again. Or I’m going to do to your career what you threatened to do to Juliet’s. You’re going to NEVER treat another dancer way you did her. And if I hear that you do, I. WILL. DESTROY. YOU. Do we have an understanding?” Bitty takes a breath, blinking widely. 

He had only gotten that angry once before when one of the jocks from his high school pushed a boy from a lower class and he fell down the stairs. That didn’t really end well for Bitty, but he wasn’t in high school any more but men who used their position of power to hurt people really made Bitty see red. 

The line was quiet with the sounds of Jefferson breathing, he had stopped yelling at the least, ‘You… you’re… I understand’ he says with a sigh. Bitty hadn’t actually expected him to actually comply with his rant. Although some bullies will give up the moment they’re stood up too.

“I’m glad we understand each other.” Bitty says carefully, he wasn’t sure what exactly was happening on the other side of the phone but from what Juliet had said about Jefferson and how scared she was of him he thought he would definitely fight more. ‘Look Matthew I didn’t think Juliet would take this so seriously… But I… I won’t call her, just don’t bring it up again…’ he says and Bitty’s eyebrows raise. Obviously he sounds close enough to someone that Jefferson actually believes could make trouble for him. But honestly Bitty wasn’t going to turn a gift away.

“Good. I don’t want to hear about you calling her again.” he says before hanging up the phone, before letting out shaky breath. He looks at Jack who just raises an eyebrow. 

“So what was that Bits?” Jack says softly his hand on Juliet’s shoulder rubbing back and forth lightly, his head tilting in enquiry. Bitty just let’s out a soft laugh.

“Well umm, so sorry about that…” he says softly, his hand holding out the phone to Juliet and she reaches out to grab it carefully.

“So I have this thing, when I see or hear someone use their position to hurt someone… But apparently he thinks I was someone called Matthew?” he finishes turning to look at Juliet.

Juliet chews on her bottom lip, thinking through everyone she knows from the industry.

“Oh god!” she exclaims.

“Matthew is a Producer, he does music videos with some really big names, I worked with him a month or so after working with Jefferson… I suppose that he does sound an awful lot like you Bitty.” she finishes with a shrug.

Jack gives a little squeeze to Juliet’s shoulder before stepping over and wrapping his arms around Bitty. 

“So maybe we’re ok… from at least him?” Jack says softly and Bitty just gives a shrug snuggling into Jack’s chest.

“Well if he never calls me again I’ll forever be in your debt.” Juliet says as her phone starts to ring again. Juliet jumps in surprise almost dropping her phone.

“Hello?” she answers carefully before her face breaks out in a big smile.

“Yes this is Juliet.” she says as she gives a little wave as she dances back to the spare room.

“Well that sounds like good news.” Jack says softly pressing a kiss into Bitty’s hair and Bitty sighs happily.

“Well she deserves it… we all do.” Bitty says softly.

**Author's Note:**

> Juliet Harris is my original character. Time will flesh her out fully guys I promise.


End file.
